Venturing into the Outdoors

I've never been one for camping... yet I'm going to be buying a tent. :)


I've been chickening out of applying for juried shows for YEARS, so I found a way around that... I was INVITED to be in a show that doesn't accept applications. They hand-pick their vendors (although they do allow people to email work for consideration), and I was hand-picked! They originally contacted me over a year ago after seeing my work somewhere and asked me to be in the show, but I needed to visit the show and see if it was a REAL show that I'd want to be in.

Sure enough... it was the coolest show I've been to in a LONG time. One where almost every booth had something I'd want to buy (and I'm pretty picky!) The entire theme of the show is whimsy. And who's the QUEEN of Whimsy??? ME!!!!!!!!!!!

So... I emailed them this year and said "ok... NOW I'd like to be in the show" but took a risk that the ship had already sailed. But who received her official invitation and paperwork this morning to be in the show??? ME!!!!!!!!!!!
(can you tell I'm doing the happy dance?)


SO.... if you're in the Atlanta area in October. Look for me under a tent in Norcross! More details to follow later!


happy Friday!

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - DEFINITELY! Cinnamon Dolce Latte - still thanking my birthday gift girls Jenny & Julie!
music - not really

Some days you just can't make art. It's just not the right time.

No matter how hard you try.... and I tried. I tried and I tried and I tried yesterday, but I kept staring at my inspirational material that I'm supposed to be using for the ISGB juried Convergence show and I got NOWHERE. I have some sketches, but nothing concrete and I still haven't totally honed in on one idea.

My heart was broken yesterday and I just couldn't focus. It was broken by little stuff at home and outside my home. Stuff that seemed big at the moment, but was made little seeing the sadness that others were going through yesterday. A family friend passed away and I kept thinking of the heartbreak her family was going through... the loss of a daughter, a wife, and the mom of two young young kids.

Katie was a courageous faithful woman who fought until the very end and was an example of grace and strength in adverse circumstances. Although I hadn't seen her in a few years, facebook is nice for keeping people in touch and her statuses over the last few years showed nothing but joy. I know that the joy came from knowing that no matter what her earthly circumstances she had a FOREVER future outside her broken body and that the good-byes she might have to make on earth weren't forever. But I was still filled with sadness yesterday.

My heart wasn't broken for Katie. She's doing just fine... in fact, she's WAY better than the rest of us. It just hurt for those whose lives on earth are without her now.

But, it's time to "buck-up" and get back to work. Some days just aren't for art... yesterday was one of those. Today needs to be. Time to get with it and make some happy and some pretty. Even if I don't feel it yet.

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - definitely was necessary today. CDL thanks to my birthday gifts! Thank you Jenny and Julie!!! You'll be my "shout out" for a couple of weeks!!

music - not sure yet! Maybe Adele. I'm anxiously awaiting her new album, but found out over the weekend that I'm seeing her in concert this summer!!! (thank you Denise!! that was a GREAT birthday gift!!)

Predicting the future is scary stuff.

Because you can't!

I have my new project completed and I'm excited about teaching it in Detroit in March. The tricky part is always deciding kit colors... guessing which will sell better than the others. I'm placing an order for one of the non-Sylvie-made components in the kit and I'm puzzling over colors. I think I figured it all out, but it's sort of a crap-shoot.... what I think will be popular vs. what ends up being the "favorite" (and it also depends how many samples I've made, what colors people choose....which means I need to get busy making samples!)

I will have SO many kit choices this year at Bead and Button... it's pretty exciting! I'm going to have to work on re-formatting my display to show everything in the best way. (better get my organized, yet bossy sister on this job quick!)

SO... here's the finished project. I'm not sure of the name, but I had a great suggestion and I might just stick with it.

So here it is...

Springalicious Pendant/Pin

Isn't it pretty???


tiny blah blah blah...

coffee today? oh yeah. Might even need a 2nd cup from Mr. Keurig
music - not yet, but i think I need some.

The birth of a project.


Sometimes it starts as an idea that I get while I'm driving, or sitting in an airport, or laying in bed after hitting the snooze button for the 3rd time. Sometimes it smacks me in the head while I'm beading... a big AHA moment (but those are rare). Sometimes it's a doodle, sometimes a dream.... sometimes it just doesn't happen at all.

Right now I have about 20 bead projects zooming around in my head, doodled on scraps of paper, sketched in notebooks... about 10 UFO (unfinished objects) lying on beading trays... and none of them are close to being a project.... except one. And I'm sooooooo close to having "it" but not quite there yet. (and I have a deadline, so I need to get to "it" pretty quick!)

Right now the birth of a project is yards and yards of unspooled wire, size 6/0, 8/0/ 11/0 and 15/0 seed beads strewn across a bead tray... baggie upon baggie and tube upon tube of colors laid out along side piles of my lampworked beads.... HOPING to be useful as-is (which means I'm really hoping not to have to invent a new lampworked bead for the project... hoping that I can use ones I already have made).

Some days I get really jealous of other beadwork artists/pattern designers. They have TWO jobs as a beader.... make a beautiful project and write a pattern. ME? I'm doing too many things at once. I'm making the beads that go into my projects, making glass beads that have NOTHING to do with the projects (but are a part of the bead booth) and FINALLY designing a project and writing a pattern. I told someone while I was at Tucson that I envy the bead girls that write in their blogs "beaded sample number 34 of the new project this week" ??!!!! Some days I feel I bite off more than I can chew designing beadwork projects with my beads in them.

This is one of those days.


I'll take some pictures of the project when it's done.... but for now, I'll plan to take a picture of the mess of beads and wire on the tray and hopefully post it here later.


coffee - yes, but it didn't help

music - no, watching cheezy chick-flick TV series while beading

Home again...

After an action-packed week at the Tucson, Best Bead Show, I'm back home. I missed the trees, I missed my kids, I missed my dog and my friends and my church... but it's good to go away some times and have that reminder. PLUS when you go away, you get to see new things and meet new people and see sunsets like this...


It was about 100 times more beautiful than this picture captured. We stood and oohed and aaahed at it for a while. Then we went and ate Mexican food at a place that I couldn't pronounce the name OR find again if I had to!! (but it was gooood!)


The show was a tough one. It always has been for me. It's loooooooooong and often tough on my fragile ego. This time it was even tougher. It was FREEZING cold... lowest temperatures in 50 years (19 degrees one night) and that hurt sales. In addition, the economy is still a factor...especially for bead stores and jewelry designers, the primary shoppers at the show. That said, my booth was absolutely beautiful and my work was the most cohesive its been in years, so I was very happy about that. People seemed enthusiastic about the new directions I'm taking too... so I'm looking at the bright side as much as possible.


I made it through and enjoyed myself and came home with great contacts, so we'll see what the end results of the show are at a later date. In the meantime, I'm glad to be home. Now it's time to work on new designs for a few weeks before preparations for Bead and Button begin!


tiny blah blah blah...

music - not yet, but I think it's going to be a movie day instead. old classics while I bead.

coffee - not today. iced tea feels better in my sore throat